There seems to be no limits to what artists are able to create with Apple’s products. From Disney animators sketching classic characters, to an illustrator using an iPad Pro to design the New Yorker’s latest cover. In today’s latest artistic drive, Apple has partnered with five young Chinese artists to reinvent classic Nianhua folk art.

Apple is continuing to aggressively expand across China with several stores, and the latest location is opening up in Chongqing on March 7th. This marks the third store in the region, and this one’s address is 55 Xiejiawan Street in the Jiulongpo District. While the first pair of stores in this region were located on busy streets with magnificent exteriors, this third store is placed inside of the area’s MixC shopping mall, which opened up in fall 2014. Apple executives Tim Cook and Angela Ahrendts frequently note how critical China is to Apple’s success, and the pair have said that dozens of stores are opening in China over the next couple of years. Over the past year, China has become the vast majority of where Apple’s revenue is sourced from across the globe. (Via @iFostore)

Apple is preparing three major new Apple Stores for New York, with two of the stores reaching major new markets for the first time. Apple is developing the first stores for the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn, while a new store for the Upper East Side of Manhattan on 74th Street and Madison is also in development, according to sources.

The first Apple Store for Queens will be located in the Queens Center Mall on the second floor. One source says this store will be the largest Apple retail outlet located in a New York mall to date, and Apple is expecting revenues for this store to even beat out some of its flagship counterparts located elsewhere in the state. The store is under construction and is expected to open later in 2015, but an official announcement may come sooner…

We recently saw the mural Apple commissioned for one of its five new Apple Stores in China, and today the mural is down revealing the glass cylinder entrance of its Chongqing store, an apparent clone of its Shanghai store design. The store opens at 10am tomorrow.

The photos were posted on Taisyand appear to have originated from MacX. The interior of the store is very reminiscent of the spiral staircase in the iconic glass cube store on Fifth Avenue in New York (photo below) …

Apple Senior Vice President of Retail Angela Ahrendts is continuing to go all in on growth in China. In video messages to employees in recent days and weeks, Ahrendts has been recruiting employees from United States-based Apple Retail stores to relocate to China to help build up Apple’s retail efforts in the region. In a note to employees late last week, sources say that Ahrendts reported that approximately 200 Apple retail workers from the U.S. have already offered to make the move. Ahrendts added that the offer to move to China “has no expiration date because as the business grows, our needs will only become greater, so as your personal and professional life changes, just always keep China at the top of your mind, because we’re going to need you…”

Update: Apple has posted a version of the video with English subtitles on YouTube (embedded above).

Apple is certainly not thinking small when it comes to China, with 25 new retail stores promised within a two-year period, and its latest soon-to-open store in Hangzhou features a massive mural covering the entire front of the store. The store is due to open on Saturday, January 24th, the second of five new stores Angela Ahrendts said would be opening by the Chinese New Year on February 19th.

Featuring a poem written around 2000 years ago celebrating the importance of the city—a provincial capital—the stunning calligraphy was hand-painted by Wang Dongling, a famous modern calligrapher. Apple has released a video of its creation … expand full story